- Publisher : Flame Tree Press
- Publication date : May 19, 2026
- Language : English
- Print length : 400 pages
- Series : Book 4 of 4
- ISBN-10 : 1805520296
- ISBN-13 : 978-1805520290
- Author : Allen Stroud
Anti-State by Allen Stroud is the fourth book in the Fractal series. I don’t usually jump into a series in progress, but I was convinced that this was enough of a stand alone story to be read alone. Keep this in mind as you read my review.
Stroud uses an unusual format in this book. He writes in first person, but that person moves from one character to another with each chapter. There are at least four points of view as we progress through the book. In some ways, this makes the book more interesting, but it makes the story less interesting. As we move from POV to POV, with some characters motivations at opposites from others, it never really feels like we connect with any of them. The multiple POV makes for a nice thought exercise as we can see the story from different angles, but ultimately, I found myself not really caring about any of those angles.
Stroud is a talented writer. He does a really good job of writing scenes as we move through the book, but many of the scenes do not promote the story as a whole. They don’t add to the story lines of other characters. A lot happens, but in the end, it seems like not much happened. None of the story lines really comes to a satisfying conclusion. The book just seems to end, I guess hoping we’ll stick around for book five to see what happens next.
As I said in the beginning of this review, I have not read the other three stories in the series, but I did feel the author did a good job at giving me enough of the history in this book that I did not feel out of touch with the universe. Perhaps if you already have a connection with these characters, you might enjoy this book more. I never felt that connection, and so I can’t recommend this one, at least not as a stand alone. If you’ve read the others in the series and disagree with me, let me know.
Matt Truxaw’s newest book is Monster. This urban fantasy, horror, thriller will keep you turning the pages.
He is also the author of the hard science fiction thrillers: “Plastiphobia/Plastivore” and “Anthrophobia: A Teacher’s Tale”
You can find them all on Amazon in Paperback, Hardback, Kindle and/or free to read with Kindle Unlimited.
When you read any of them, he would really appreciate a review/rating on Amazon or your favorite book seller/book reader site.
More about Matt:
He was born in Orange County California many years ago and he still lives there. He has been reading books for most of those years and writing up book reviews for the last few years. He gets MANY of his books out of the library/Libby so expect a lot of old science fiction classics book reviews and other science related reviews in addition to newer books he comes across.
If you want to be ‘in-the-loop’ on these and other works, you can follow his website( MattTruxaw.com), his author’s page on Amazon or his Facebook page.
For more reviews and articles by Matt here on Amazing Stories (Click here).
Monster: A Novel by Matt Truxaw
